In August, China's social consumption rebounded, with petroleum and automobile retail reversing their decline, while housing consumption continued to weaken.
On September 15th, the National Bureau of Statistics released the following data:
In August, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 3.7933 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.6%, exceeding the expected 3% and the previous value of 2.5%. Among them, the retail sales of consumer goods excluding automobiles reached 3.382 trillion yuan, an increase of 5.1%.
From January to August, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 30.2281 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.0%. Among them, the retail sales of consumer goods excluding automobiles reached 27.1888 trillion yuan, an increase of 7.2%.
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<h2>Restaurant revenue in August continued to decline, while commodity retail accelerated its recovery</h2>
By location of the operating unit, in August, urban retail sales of consumer goods reached 3.2974 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.4%; rural retail sales of consumer goods reached 0.4959 trillion yuan, an increase of 6.3%. From January to August, urban retail sales of consumer goods reached 26.2426 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.9%; rural retail sales of consumer goods reached 3.9855 trillion yuan, an increase of 7.6%.
By type of consumption, in August, commodity retail reached 3.3721 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.7%; restaurant revenue reached 0.4212 trillion yuan, an increase of 12.4%. From January to August, commodity retail reached 26.9463 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.6%; restaurant revenue reached 3.2818 trillion yuan, an increase of 19.4%.
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By retail format, from January to August, among retail units above the quota, convenience stores, specialty stores, brand stores, and department stores saw year-on-year growth rates of 7.3%, 4.1%, 3.1%, and 7.9% respectively, while supermarket sales decreased by 0.5%.
From January to August, the national online retail sales reached 9.5387 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.1%. Among them, the online retail sales of physical goods reached 7.9821 trillion yuan, an increase of 9.5%, accounting for 26.4% of the total retail sales of consumer goods. In terms of online retail sales of physical goods, the growth rates of food, clothing, and daily necessities were 8.4%, 10.9%, and 9.2% respectively.
<h2>Petroleum and automobile retail reverse their decline, while housing consumption continues to weaken</h2>
In commodity retail, automobile retail in August reached 0.4112 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1.1%, reversing the 1.5% decline in July. From January to August, automobile retail increased by 4.9% year-on-year.
Retail sales of petroleum and related products reached 0.207 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.0%, reversing the 0.6% decline in July. From January to August, retail sales of petroleum and related products increased by 6.2% year-on-year.
Housing-related consumer spending continues to weaken, with a YoY decline of 11.4% in August for the retail sales of construction and decoration materials, slightly widening the decrease compared to July.
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August catering revenue continued to decline, while petroleum and automotive retail reversed their downward trend, and housing-related consumption remained weak.

China's August YoY social consumer goods retail sales increased by 4.6%, with a turnaround in the automotive sector, which saw a YoY growth of 1.1%.